Vehicle body construction



Aug. 14, 1945- G. TRAUTVETTER VEHICLE BODY CONSTRUCTION 7 Original Filed Aug. 3, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Georye Tran Zvefler A T TORNEY Aug. 14, 1945. G. TRAUTVETTER VEHIQLE BODY CONSTRUCTION Original Fi'leiAfig. 3, 1935 S Sheet'S-Sheet 2 M M H T f. M M W 0 .V w A T? @J u Y B a thereby effecting a substahtial ping costs)" '3 l It *is anothr object'of my invention to so form the margins of thesubeassembly units that they maybe readily joined in the final assembly Patented Au 14, 1945 amni n a I lnten s I mania I :Philadelphia,-;Pa., a corporation to!- Pennsyl- 1 I I I homelessness August a 1935; semi No'.

" 34,493. Div'ldedimd this applicationglanuary '11,1941 ,S erial No.374, 138 f i bodies and particularlyto bodies of this class, the outer walls of'which are fabricated of rela- "tively few large sheetmetal-stampings.

It is-an objectof; the invention toconstruct a body of this class in sub assembly units which may beradilylshiribd in nested relation and i finally assembled in regions reinote from' the place of manufacture of "the' sub assembly units,

saving in shipby readilyavailable assembling machinery and byrelatively' unskilled workmen and the jointsareso' formed that such joinder may be effected II substantially throughout by straight line spot or pinch weldingin such manner that the joinder may be expeditedand a of the joints is required after the final assembly.

minimum of finishing It is another object oi the invention to so fo'rm the'sub-assemblies as to make them self sus- I taming and not liable to serious injury i! shipmerit.

' I These and other objects'and advantages are attained, according to a preferred forin of the invention, by a' roof which is formed along its lateral marginswithjoint formationsfo'r securing' it t'o'the tops ofthe side units I and in its A-p'ost portions with joint formations for securi'ng it'to a'front and the side units,'andI by a front unit sub-assembly which comprises a unitary stamping' including the top of the cowl and s muchofthe sides of the cowl as. is not formed by the side sub-assemblies, and the upwardly extending A-post covers formed. in their rear margin forse'curement to the A-post portions ofthe side sub-assemblies and in the topmargins for'securernentfto the' roof and in their I inner margins with formations corresponding to the formation in thejfront'rnargin "of the roof l and'with thelrearmargin'of 'thetop ofthe cowl 'jtojforrn the windshield framing. The. tops of I the A postsport ions off thefront stamping are- 1 interconnec'ted, 'by a' 'transversely "exten'ding W nd hi iid is securedt I I I n inth fihalie b y eete m.

'I'heinventionlends itself,'however, to c on siderablej' modification without substantial loss "oithe antages which forrn thfe main objects thereof? so to the front [margin of wh'ich of the roof stampfront marg e modifications will be hereinafter H II N 8Claims. (cl ms) l The invention 'relatesio' "sheetmetal vehicle" the means wherebythey are attained will he'- conie apparent froin the following more detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

' ing the joint between thefront of the roof unit I and the topof the front unit.

Fig, 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, parts being shown .in section taken substantially on the line P4 of Fig. '1 showing the joint between the roof unit and aside unit. I

..Fig. 5, is aview similar to Fig. 4 taken on the line 5-5 of ig. 1. I

I '6 a fragmentary sectional view, as seen in plan, on the line 6-.6 of. Fig. 1.. p r

Fig. flis a. corresponding viewon the line 1-4 of R -1.

Fig.8 is a fragmentaryperspective view, parts the dotted lines-a of Fig.1. p

Fig 9,is a detail sectional view on the line 8 b i shown in .section inthe re indicated by "9-4 ofFigl l.

I Fig. 10 is fa fragmentary front perspective view of the front of the assembled body...

f Fig..11 is an underneath perspective view of thereof unit showing sound-deadening padding applied thereto... Fig. 12 is a front perspective view of the front unit with the front roof bow attached.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary perspective as seen from the-inside showing the mannenofattachment of the front and side units. '1 I i i ...,-.Fig.- 14is a fragmentary, part front elevation and partsectional'view of the joint between the front and roof units. 4 1 Fig. 15 is ladetail sectional liew'similar to i Fig. 4: showing aslightmodification of the joint between the roofunit and the side unit. Fig. 16 is 'a fragmentary detail perspective view, parts being in section, showing the joints between roofand front units where the inventionfis' applied to a fixed or vertically slidable and I advantages and .56

windshield'eon'structio I I I I I Fig. 1'1 is a similar view showing the'join't between frontandside units under similar conas shown'in the drawing the completed body is fabricated in two side-sub-assemblies A, a iront SUD-8838mm! B, a rear sub-assembly C and a.

mom's the embodiments oi the invention aaeaoas roof stamping is extended downwardly through short projections 24 including as parts thereof lateral and downward extensions of the flange 23, whichproiections are adapted to form final assembly joints with the tops of the front units as will be more particularly hereinafter pointed to provide an angular rabbet I! ,the lower margin of which may be formed, as in Fig. 15, with a curved reverse bent edge flange II for the purpose of holding a weatherstrip H in the rabbet against which the edge of the door may close. Rearwardly of the door opening as indicated in Fig. 5, the head is continued but the rabbet is not present, the edge of the roof being merely flanged inwardly as indicated at i5, and this beaded formation and flange extends downwardly at the rear side margins to .the location iBa, see Figs. 1 and 11, adjacent the bottom of the rear quarter window opening, the bead there merging with a widened bead extending around the rear edge of the roof stamping.

The drip molding may be made integral with the bead H as shownat liainFig. or it may be made as a separate stamping It as in Fig. 4, which stamping includes the reversely curved marginal portion Ila, an angular portion ilntting within the rabbet I! of the marlin of the roof and secured to both arms as indicated, and an outer channel portion It projecting outwardly beyond the margin of the roof. This drip stamping it extends from the extreme front of the roof to the location lid and in rear of the door opening as in the roof stamping. the rabbet i1 is converted into an inwardly extending flange portion l'la (see Fig. 5) of the drip channel extended to overlap the inwardly extending flange ii of the roof stamping. Where this separate drip channel it is used it is preferably spot welded to the marginal portion of the roof throughout its extent and thus serves to strongly reinforce the margin of the roof sub-assembly.

At the rear the roof stamping is extended downwardly substantially to the belt line to include within its margin the rear window opening I! in the margin of which it is flanled inwardly and rabbeted, as indicated at 20 to frame said opening and form the outer side and bottom wall of the glass run channel. The lower rear margin of the roof sub-assembly extends across the rear of the body and around the rear quarters substantially to the rear margins of the rear quarter window openings, and in its rear margin itis headed and flanged inwardly at 2i (see Fig. 11) the bead and flange providing a stiffened margin for the sub-assembly and the flange serving as a flnal assembly joint.

From the point where the drip channel ends at the rear the roof stamping has its substantially vertically extending margin formed with an oflset flange 22 (see Fig. 8), to stiiien itsmargin in this region and to form a final assembly joint.

At the front, the roof stamping is extended downwardly to form the outside face of the top windshield header and is flanged inwardly at 23 (see Fig. 3) to form a flnal assembly joint and part of the windshield framing. At the sides, the

out.-

The roof unit, being of compound curvature and flanged or otherwise reinforced throughout substantially its entire margin, provides a stir! sub-assembly structure well adapted for shipment in nested relation and by reason or its marginal construction well adapted for easy :oinder in iinal assembly with adjoining units.

For sound-deadening purposes the roof unit may, prior to flnal assembly, be provided with a plurality of layers 2!, 28 of suitable sound-deadening material, one of said layers, as 28, being laid transversely in spaced strips while the other layer 26 is laid longitudinally. This sound-deadening material may be secured in place to the metal panel by a suitable adhesive, and in final assembly is further pressed against the metal roof stamping. by longitudinally spaced roof bows onl one of which is indicated at in Fig. 3.

According to this form of the invention, the side units A are each formed as a single outer panel stamping 21 forming a side of the cowl 2t and flanged inwardly at 2! (Figs. 4 and 7). to form the frames of the doorway opening or openings and further flanged inwardly at It to form a frame including a rabbet to receive the rear quarter window (Fig. 5). The side unit terminates at the rear of the rear quarter window opening in a substantially vertical rear margin extending downwardly to the bottom of the body and through the wheel housing. a

In the region of the cowl portions 2| the side unit is flanged to form a final assembly joint structure. In the region extending from the top of the cowl over the tops of the doorway openings and the rear quarter window openings, the side unit is flanged inwardly at 33 at the top to form with the flanges II at the tops of the doorway and window openings a substantially continuous inwardly-facing channel (see Figs. 4, 5 and 7). The inner edge of the flange or wall 33 is continued by a substantially vertically extending flange 33'. To further reinforce the side units in this region. these inwardly facingichannels may be closed to box section over the door and window openings by inner paneling 34 spot welded to their side walls (see Figs. 4 and 5), and, in the region of the A-post (see Fig. 7) along the side of the windshield opening, by a channel section inner reinforce 35 telescoped within the channel formed by the outer panel and secured thereto by spot welding.

In the A-post region the side units may be further reinforced below the top line of the cowl in the region of the door hinge securement by inner post structures of box cross section. as indicated at 38 (see Fig. 6). At the tops these post struchim; may tie in directly with the channel section A-post portions shown in Fig. 7 extending along the sides of the windshield opening. Other door post portions" in the side unit stampings may have similar inner reinforcements.

At the rear vertically extending margin and from the location ii to the wheel housing the side unit stamping 21 is formed with an offset flange 42 Fig. 8 corresponding to the offset flange 21 on the roof unit and iorming therewith and with the adjoining edge of the rear unit a flnal assembly joint. This oflset if formed in the outer portion J of the in vertical continuation of the top flange I3 and providing the rear wall of the glass run channel for the rear window opening, Throughoutthe vertical margin of the wheel housing portion therethe complete windshield frame extending thereabout. The cowl portion of the stamping is extended downwardly at the sides to form the upper portions of the sides of the cowl and in its lower side margins it is flanged inwardly at 41 (see Fig. to form final assembly joints with the side units. The upwardly extending portions 48 at the sides of the windshield opening as well as the transversely extending upper and lower windshield headers are formed with a rabbet 49 to receive the edge of the windshield. These upwardly extending portions form the outer faces of the posts substantially to the top of the windshield opening where they are offset inwardly at 50, Figs. 13 and 14, and form an inner reinforcing top header ii: for the top of the windshield opening. The vertical rear side edges of the front unit from the lower edge to the point 50 are provided with a rabbet 52, see Fig. '7, corresponding to the rabbet II in the roof panel and having a reversely bent margin 53 for securing and holding in place the Weatherstrip similar to Weatherstrip It at the margins of the roof unit and forming extension As shown thereof against which the door closes. in Fig. 7 this reverse bend is made in a separate strip I4 spot welded to the margin of thefront stamping, although it may alternatively be made as an integral part of the front stamping as indicaied in Fig. 15 in connection with the roof stamping.

The front unit may additionally comprise a flanged channel sectionroof how I! spaced from the rearwardly offset top header portion ii of the front stamping and secured to it through a number of spacedchannel sections braces 56.

The ends of the channel section roof bow are formed with downwardly extending tabs 58 adapted to form final assembly joints for joinder to the side units. Similarly, the sides of the'oifset top header portion 5| (see Figs. 3 an 13) are. provided with angular gussets, eachhaving one arm as ll, spot welded to the transversely extending top header portion ii and the other arm as 60 extended rearwardly and adapted to form a final assembly Joint structure for attachment to the adjacent side unit.

The rear sub-assembly unit C extends from side to side around the rear quarter terminating in substantially vertical edges in the region just I rearwardly of the rear quarter window opening.

At the top this unit terminates at the belt and is there formed with a horizontal flange 6| terminating in an upwardly extending flange Cl extending from side to sideand adapted to enter.

into the flnal assembly joint with the roof unit.

numeral 46 which forms the top of the cowl and of the rear edge of the side unit is merely offset het lee Pig. 7, will then be in the inner panels 34 of 'oifset flanges 22 and 42 3 This rear unit includes in the single stamping the trunk housing I.

The sub-assembly units as'so constructed are readily assembled in the final assembly by bringing together their marginal flanged edges and spot Welding them together; in most cases by straight line pinch welding operations. The front unit B may be assembled with the side units by bringing the lateral flanges 41 of the cowl portion of the front stamping in overlapping relation with the laterally extending flange at the top of the cowl side portionsof the side stampings and spot welding them together. The door edge receiving rabposition to overlap the outer face of the front post portion 29-33 of the side unit sub-assembly and can readily be securedthereto by spot welding. The windshield receiving rabbet ll of the front stamping overlaps the front wall II of the front post of the side stamping and may be secured thereto as shown inFlg. 7 by pinch welding. At the top, as shown in Figs. 3 and 13, the arms 80 of the gussets overthe side units and are spot welding. Similarly the tabs II on the front roof bow Ii likewise overlap the panels 34 and are secured to the side units by spot welding. The rear unit C with the wheel housing 1 preferably pre-assembledthereto. and also the floor plate, not shown, assembled to its lower edges (although this floor plate may be assembled subsequently to the assembly of the rear unit with the side units), may be assembled with the Side units by bringing the front edges of the wheelhousing portions thereof, see Fig. 9, in overlapping relation with the offset rear edge 44, of the side units an spot welding thereto. Above the wheel housing the ioinder between the rear and side units is eifectedthrough the inwardly on the respective units so which overlapin this region and arespot welded together.

The shallow channel formed by the Joint in this region as shown in Fig. 8, may be filled with solder flush with the outer faces of the panels to provide a continuous unbroken surface.

After the assembly of the side unit A, front unit B and rear unit C, the roof unit D is brought down into position for final assembly with the J margins of the adjoining units. At the front the inwardly extending flange 23,see Figs. 3, 10 and 13, overlaps the inwardly extending wall 19 01' the rabbeted portion 49 of the inwardly offset top header portion of the front unitary stampingand is secured thereto by spot welding. As clearly shown in Fig. 13, the upper portions of the post cover and side windshield frame portions of the front stamping are formed with an offset at 50 equal in depth to the thickness of the roof panel and the roof panel and the lateral downward extensions 23, 24 from the roof panel fit into this offset flush with the outer face of the front stamping therebelow and are spot or otherwise welded thereto to form a flush joint between the out'er face of the roof and the outer ,face of the front stamping, as clearly appears from Figs. 3, 10 and 13.

' The lateral margins of the roof stamping throughout theregions of the doorway openings extend downwardly to the doorway openings as shown in Figs. 4 and 11, and their rabbetedmargins l2 receiving the edge of the door indicated in dotted lines at II are secured by a line of spot welds to the outer face of the channel section rail II, II formed in the side unit stamping above the doorway. openings. 1 Ready access is had for this welding operation through the opentam-is y I somewhat different cross section from that diswardly of the door. openings the inwardly extend:

ly tothe location Ila (Pigs .1.) and '11) adjacent the lower edge of theigear uarter window open-' ing. From there on downwardly the roof and side units are Joined through the inwardly of!- set overlap flange portions If, I! shown in Fig. 8, which ioint is finally made flush with the outer face of the paneling byfilling theshallowchannel formed atthe joint by solder.

Figure2andacompa'risonofrigures4and 5 reveal that the header formed above the rear quarter window opening by the outer panel 21, the flanges ll. fl and the inner panel 34 is downwardly offset at ll with respect to the.

header formed above the door opening by the outer panel 21. its flanges fl, is and the inner panel ll. .The inwardly extending portion of the roof flange i! above the door opening is, on the other hand, continued without being offset by the inwardly extending roof flange it above the rear quarter windowopening so that the drip channel It may be arranged in a continuous.

smooth arch. This arrangement has the advan-- tage that the cross sectional areas of the header in the door and in the window region are of similar magnitude, and that the flange 3. defining the rear quarter window is arranged substantially in a continuous line with the inwardly extending portion of the outer door panel defining the upper margin of the door window opening. This arrangement has the further advantage that the.

roofpanelmaybefastened uchasbywelding, totheoutsideoftheheaderinthe door where the welds or the like the marginal flange of the door. of the rear quarter window. however, restsonthetopoftheheaderso whichcannotbecoveredupbythe visible out located in the interior of The rear lower marginal flange 2| of stamping overlaps the horizontal uppermarginoftherearunitci ofthe upwardly extending marginal flange secured thereto by a' line all the way frtxn a posiclosed in the form shown in Figs. 3 and 13. but its function is substantially the same as in those The header so is an inwardly facing channel the mouth of which is closedby a member 00' and which is provided along its upper inner margin with a substantially verticaily extending flange the construction of the header is substantially the same as that of the side header 2!. 33. It. 34 illustrated in Figures 4 and l 5. In these Figs. 16 and 17 the edge of the windshield is shown received in channel section rubber weatherstrips II which, are held in place by an inner molding strip ii.

In all of the foregoing modifications the main objects of the invention are achieved. namely, the fabrication of the outer paneling of a body in relatively few main stampings which are of aform to permit their readynesting in shipment and which can be assembled at various final assembiy locations by simple spot welding operations. Most of the final assembly Joints are hidden and effected by simple'line welding operations with a pair of pinch welders. The construction is a highly practical one and one which lends itself readily to quantity production of the units at a main production plant and their shipment to various final assembling plants and easy flnal'assembly at those plants. The construction is one which lends itself to extensive variation in the various types of bodies and under various shop conditions and in the following claims it is intended to cover all such variations as readily fall within the purview of those skilled in the art.

The present application is a division of prior application Vehicle body construction and method of fabrication, Serial No. 34,493, flled August 3, 1935. of the same inventor, on which Patent No. 2,256,837 issued on September 23, 1941. Application, Serial No. 497,763. filed August 7. 1943, for "Vehicle body construction," is a division of the present application.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle body. a unitary front wall stamping extending entirely around the wind-.

shield opening framing said opening and forming the outer face of said framing and the front top header of the windshield framing, said offset,

being inwardly of the outer face of the lower portion of the windshield'side framing and post facing, a roof panel having its forward portion downwardly extended and conforming in trans-' verse extent to the extent of said offset portion and secured in the margins of said offset in the side portions and in the margin of the top header to'form the outer face of the upper portion of the windshield framing and post facing.

2; A vehicle body construction comprising a side wall member and a separately manufactured arched transverse sheet metal panel unit such as a roof unit extending from side to side of the body and at one side downwardly substantially to a doorway opening provided in said side wall member, the lateral margin of said panel unit above a doorway opening being inwardly offset so as to constitute an angle-section flange, said T 'over the rear being directly fastened to the outer face of said side wall member so as to form part of a final assembly joint formation between said panel unit and said side wall member.

3. A vehicle body construction comprising a side header extending over the door and window openings in the side of the body and a roof panel unit coming down over the outside of the side header in the region of the doorway opening and secured to the side header immediately above the door opening through a rabbeted marginal portion, said rabbeted portion being provided on said roof unit and being adapted to receive the edge of the door, said roof panel in the region over the rear quarter window opening being formed with an inwardly extending flange overlapping the top of the header and secured thereto, the portion of said header including its top in the region above the window opening being downwardly 011- set with respect to the header portion above the adjacent doorway opening.

4. A vehicle body construction comprising a side header extending. over the door and window openings in the side of the body and a roof panel unit coming down over the outside of the side header in the region of the doorway opening and secured to the side header immediately above the door opening through a -rabbeted marginal portion, said rabbeted portion being formed on said roof panel unit and being adapted to receive the edge of the door, said roof panel in the region quarter window opening being formed with an inwardly extending flange overlapping the top of the header and secured thereto, the portion of said header in the region above the window opening being downwardly oil'set with respect to the header portion above the adjacent doorway opening, the outer surface of said header forming in the region of said window the outer surface of the body side wall and being formed similar in form and height to the outer panel above a window of a door to be fitted into said door opening.

5. The combination with a vehicle body including a front section, having a window opening defined by a cowl, pillars and a top frame, the top frame extending'inwardly from the terminal top edge of the pillars, and a roof panel having the contour of the top frame and provided with projecting pillar portion which extend downwardly below the top edge of said window opening which engage the top edge of the pillar about the frame to form a unit construction, said frame, the top edge of the pillars and the edge of the mating portion of the roof panel being flanged and secured together by said flanges.

6. In a front end construction for a vehicle body, a windshield framing finish panel extending completely around and defining a windshield opening, said windshield framing panel having an arcuately curved top marginal edge provided with a rearwardly projecting flange, a top panel having a rearwardly projecting flange on the forward marginal edge thereof and adapted to mate with the flange at the top of said windshield opening and provided with projecting pillar portions extending downwardly at the sides of the windshield opening, pillar members extending upwardly at the sides of said windshield opening adapted to mate with said windshield framing panel and with the outboard side of said projecting pillar portions of said top panel, said members being secured together through said mating flanges to provide a. unitary construction.

7. A unitary front wall stamping for a vehicle body. said stamping extending entirely around the windshield opening and forming the outer face of the front wall alongthe lower and lateral sides of the windshield opening whereas its header portion along the top of the windshield opening isadapted to be covered b the forward portion of a roof and to form an inner reinforcement therefor, said header portion being inwardly and rearwardly offset from the outer surface of the body in the same region.

8. In a vehicle body, a unitary front wall stamping extending entirely around the windshield opening,the portion of said stamping along the sides of the window opening being of channel cross section with the mouth of the.

channel facing rearwardly so as to form the windshield framing and the pater-surface ofthe front body posts in the region of the windshield opening, a transverse /header portion of the stamping being rearwardly ofl'set beginning at a line near the upper corners of the windshield opening, said header portion carrying by means of rearwardly extending spacer members a separate 'roof bow, said header member and said roof bow being adapted to be covered by and connected to the forward marginal portion of a roof stamping.

GEORGE TRAU'I'VEI'I'ER. 

